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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1079
 
| husband's 11+ year old chocolate lab is presenting with the following symptoms:
1. unproductive gagging for the last 3 or 4 days
2. as of late Saturday slightly bloated abdomen.
3. seemingly unchanged attitude / personality. not lethargic in any way.
4. threw up over night.
have appointment with vet on Wed. AM. his overall attitude suggests he isn't in immediate danger of dropping dead. We are watching him closely. spoke with vet on Saturday and she thinks maybe heart or lung issue. anyone have any similar experiences? I'm concerned his advanced age (for a lab) is going to be a big concern in treatment. |
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  Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
   
Location: Florida.. | my lab lived to be 16.. very old.. when her heart was failing she developed fluid retention as well.. ..heart failure
could he have heartworms ?
how is his bowels? he may be impacted.. and is vomiting .. they will vomit from fluid retention in lungs.to .. gasping trying to clear airways.. etc..
Edited by Bibliafarm 2013-11-25 10:58 AM
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1079
| his bowel movements are solid and about as normal as I have paid attention to notice.
He is on a fairly routine deworming schedule (with vaccinations, typically), I guess I can't totally rule something like that out.
He has aged a lot in the last couple years. Gotten really grey in the face and has never had good hips, so he gimps around pretty good if he's gone hunting (doesnt do that anymore) or runs around a lot. |
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Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
Location: Florida.. | awww yea I understand .. its hard to see them aging.. ill say a prayer hes just having a few small fixable issues.. |
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 Scorpions R Us
Posts: 9586
Location: So. Cali. | We had a chocolate standard poodle around the same age have bloat. Seemed to come out of the blue. Very drowsy and drooling. I'm sorry I do not know in more details specifically what they did, I know we were able to avoid surgery, they kept her over night and got it all out of her chest. Never had an issue again.
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1079
| thanks for the replies, yes it is weird because the symptoms seem to match the bloat issue, but he is perky and tail-wagging like normal. He did have food left over in his bowl yesterday morning which for a lab is UNHEARD of. otherwise he has been eating normally too.
He kind of has the roached up back thing going on too, just physically looks tough but mentally seems fine. weird.
I am hoping it will be fixable without a huge vet bill, my husbands father passed away like a month ago and I just don't want him to lose his dog too. |
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Veteran
Posts: 172
| Does not sound like bloat. I don't think he would live more than a few hours. The way I understand it, bloat can be compared to a horse twisting....everything goes toxic within hours. I lost a dog to bloat a few years ago. Never heard of it prior to that. He was extremely painful and it was obvious he was passing away on me. He grunted and tried to run from me, as I drove him to the vet, he laid on the floor in the backseat of my truck and whimpered. It was awful. Absolutely awful. Good luck with your pup, but I dont think it's bloat. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1079
| recarlerrab - 2013-11-25 11:22 AM Does not sound like bloat. I don't think he would live more than a few hours. The way I understand it, bloat can be compared to a horse twisting....everything goes toxic within hours. I lost a dog to bloat a few years ago. Never heard of it prior to that. He was extremely painful and it was obvious he was passing away on me. He grunted and tried to run from me, as I drove him to the vet, he laid on the floor in the backseat of my truck and whimpered. It was awful. Absolutely awful. Good luck with your pup, but I dont think it's bloat.
that's how I understand it too, like twisted gut. I agree that he shouldn't have lasted the weekend if that is what it truly is.
I am not familiar with how heart failure presents in dogs, but the vet did mention that that could be what we are looking at. :(
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Veteran
Posts: 172
| Good luck. I hope everything turns out okay. |
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Regular
Posts: 91
Location: North Dakota | We had a yellow lab (10 years old) who bloated up really bad and he even developed a sway back - we were told he had megacolon. He stayed at the vet for 6 days and she did a bunch of stuff w/ him then 3 months later it happened again. He had a hard time breathing and it was the saddest thing ever! The vet had us check his capillary refill by pressing on his gums - that would tell us if his organs were working properly. He then started throwing up and we couldn't get the bloat to go away so we knew it was time. I wish you the best of luck because I know exactly what you are going through. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1079
| I know I like to see updates so here you go - trip to vet this am revealed that his heart is skipping a beat and he has fluid buildup in his lungs / body cavity? She prescribed some medication to help take the fluid off and another to try to regulate his heartbeat. She said his heart could stop at any time. Summary sheet said Congestive Heart on it. I guess we will just wait and see.
thanks for all replies. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1218
Location: Great NW | Prayers - hopefully the meds will help alleviate the strain on the heart. |
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 Fact Checker
Posts: 16572
Location: Displaced Iowegian | star1218 - 2013-11-27 1:17 PM I know I like to see updates so here you go - trip to vet this am revealed that his heart is skipping a beat and he has fluid buildup in his lungs / body cavity? She prescribed some medication to help take the fluid off and another to try to regulate his heartbeat. She said his heart could stop at any time. Summary sheet said Congestive Heart on it. I guess we will just wait and see.
thanks for all replies.
I was just going to suggest what your update includes.....I will say that my dog is in the same boat....the vet likened his heart beat to an old washing machine with a very bad leak. He has been on heart medication and "water" pills for over 6 months. He is still plugging along. Some days are good and some days are bad. Bad days include seizures. Good Luck! |
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 Crazy Doggy Mommy
Posts: 1419
Location: Where Governor's make the liscense plates | Yes definitely congestive heart failure- He could last many more years or go tomorrow. The Lasix that they give him will help with the fluid and make him pee a lot more. Keep a close eye on him if he's not eating well or having a really hard time breathing because the fluid will compress his lung compacity. Prayers for your hubbys lab. |
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 Arriving at the last minute!
Posts: 5148
Location: Kansas | recarlerrab - 2013-11-25 11:22 AM Does not sound like bloat. I don't think he would live more than a few hours. The way I understand it, bloat can be compared to a horse twisting....everything goes toxic within hours. I lost a dog to bloat a few years ago. Never heard of it prior to that. He was extremely painful and it was obvious he was passing away on me. He grunted and tried to run from me, as I drove him to the vet, he laid on the floor in the backseat of my truck and whimpered. It was awful. Absolutely awful. Good luck with your pup, but I dont think it's bloat.
I agree. I had a Mastiff bloat last Feb she was done for within two hours.
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 989
| My neighbors dog started getting bloated. No other symptoms though. He took him to the vet as his stomach was bloated and hard. He was still in good spirits and would play, eat, etc. It turned out from ultrasound that he had tumours all through out his abdomen that had started internally bleeding. They said too many for surgery, and my neighbour took him home and enjoyed him for two more weeks. They told him he wasnt in pain but would tell him when he had enough and was done. He stopped eating at a week and a half so he was put down.
Not to scare you or anything, but it is a sign of bloat. He apparently killed his dog with kindness. It was a 6yr old rottie that was over weight and got at least a BIG box of IAMS cookies a day. |
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dog bloat?